Peter Proby

Sir Peter Proby, 2nd Baronet, KStJ DL (4 December 1911 – 18 April 2002) was an English landowner and bursar of Eton.

Early life

Peter Proby was born in Suffolk on 4 December 1911, the eldest son of Sir Richard Proby and his first wife, Betty Monica Murray.^[1] He was raised on the 3,700-acre family estate, Elton Hall, near Oundle. Peter was educated at Eton College before reading Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Trinity College, Oxford.^[2]

Ancestry

Sir Peter Proby descended from several families of peerage and landed gentry. His father, Sir Richard George Proby was created a Baronet in 1952. Sir Richard George Proby was a son of British politician Douglas James Proby (1856-1931), who was born Douglas James Hamilton but changed his surname to Proby by royal license in 1904. Douglas's father was the Conservative MP Lord Claud Hamilton (1813-1884) and his mother was Lady Elizabeth Emma Proby (d. 1900), daughter of Granville Proby, 3rd Earl of Carysfort (1782-1858). Lady Proby's brother William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort died without an heir in 1909, and thus all his titles became extinct, with the Proby estate Elton Hall inherited by his nephew, Douglas James Proby.^[1] Lord Claud Hamilton himself descended from the Earldom of Abercorn, his father being James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton and his grandfather John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn.^[3]

On his mother's side, Peter Proby was a great grandson of the Scottish publisher John Murray III through his younger son Alexander Henry Hallam (known as Hallam). Hallam Murray was the father of Betty Monica Murray^[4] and was thus Peter Proby's maternal grandfather.

Career

After graduating from Oxford, he worked for the China trading firm of Jardine Matheson for four years, traveling between company posts on the Yangtze, leaving China in 1938. He enlisted in the Irish Guards upon the outbreak of World War II, spending most of his career in military intelligence interpreting aerial photographs and interrogating captured German airmen.

After the war, Proby qualified as a land agent, and then managed the family estate. In 1953, Proby was offered the bursarship of Eton. During his tenure there, several new buildings were erected, including Villiers and Farrer houses, and the college chapel was renovated after an infestation of death watch beetle. Proby was noted for his skilled financial management of these projects, and for his enthusiasm for new technology. After retiring from the bursarship in 1971, he returned to the management of Elton and engaged in local affairs.^[2]

Proby inherited his father's baronetcy in 1979, and in 1981, after a year as a deputy lieutenant, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.^[2] He left that office in 1985.^[5]

Proby was appointed Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem by Queen Elizabeth II in 1983.^[6]

Personal life

On 15 January 1944, he married Blanche Harrison Cripps, daughter of Colonel Henry Harrison Cripps. Together, they were the parents of five children, with their youngest being twins:^[2][1]

• Sarah Blanche Proby (b. 1945), who married Peter George Mills in 1968.
• John Granville Proby (1946–1971)
• Sir William Proby, 3rd Baronet (b. 1949), who married Meredyth Anne Brentnall in 1974.^[7]
• Charlotte Mary Proby (b. 1957), who married Stephen John Hay in 1984.^[8]
• Christine Elisabeth Proby (b. 1957), who married Christopher Dobbs in 1983.^[9]

Sir Peter Proby died on 18 April 2002.^[2] His estate's net worth was £381,718 at the time of his death.^[10]

References

1. ^ Townend, Peter (ed.) (1970). "Proby". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. 105th ed. Burke's Peerage. pp. 2187–2188. – via Internet Archive
2. ^ "Sir Peter Proby, Bt". The Telegraph. 26 April 2002. Archived 2019-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
3. ^ Townend, Peter (ed.) (1970). "Abercorn". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. 105th ed. Burke's Peerage. pp. 2–5. – via Internet Archive
4. ^ Townend, Peter (ed.) (1969). "Murray of Folla". Burke's Landed Gentry. Vol. 2. 18th ed. Burke's Peerage Limited. p. 462. – via Internet Archive
5. ^ "Former Lieutenants". The Lieutenancy of Cambridgeshire. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
6. ^ No. 49232. 11 January 1983. p. 424.
7. ^
8. ^ "Charlotte Proby". bedales1975.com. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
9. ^ "Christine Proby". www.bedales1975.com. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
10. ^ "Latest wills". The Times. 2003-08-05. Retrieved 2026-05-06.